Blues-rock duo keeps it real

The group's much-anticipated third release is due out in September.
By JOHN PATRICK GATTA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
For the Black Keys, it all comes down to the bond formed between two childhood friends.
Vocalist/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney grew up in Akron just around the corner from each other. When they discovered a mutual affection for music, the two middle school-aged boys would get together to write songs and record them on Carney's four-track machine.
"It was always just the two of us," said Auerbach. "There was never anybody else. We tried to at one point after we sent out a demo and got a record deal. We had a friend of ours come over and play Moog synthesizer, but it just didn't sound right. We were so used to playing just the two of us. So, we kept it a two-piece cause that's how it's always been."
So, they remained a duo on the Black Keys' 2002 debut, "The Big Come-Up," as well as its follow-up, "thickfreakness." Auerbach shrugs off the inevitable comparisons to the White Stripes and the fashionable guitar/drums/vocal instrumentation. Its all that he and Carney know and working together has proven to be a comfortable fit.
No interference
Their mutual understanding of what the band's sound and presentation should be cause them to do what's natural -- write and record without any outside interference. That remains the approach on the duo's much-anticipated third release, "The Rubber Factory," due out on Sept. 7.
"Rather than see if it will work with somebody else, we just do it the way we do it. We want things to sound rough, blown out and real organic. We want to use that nice [studio] equipment but we want to use it wrong, push it to where it's not supposed to be like they used to do at Sun Records before they knew better."
The new album expands the instrumentation of the previous discs by adding lap steel, fiddle and congas to spice up the Keys' fiery blues rock sound.
Influences
Auerbach's love of the blues grew from hearing his dad's records. The transitional period when the blues merged with country and before it became rock 'n' roll remains a major influence. With a raw bluesy sound and vocals that give the impression of rough 'n' tumble experience well beyond their age, the Keys have received major acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. Its albums have been in year-end, best-of lists and the group was a 2003 finalist in the Shortlist Award, an American prize voted on by high profile musicians to honor the year's most creative albums.
He hopes that the advance set up for "The Rubber Factory" leads to the continued ascendancy of the Black Keys.